The Reason I Don't
by timewornInkslinger
Summary: Soul has refused to play the piano for Maka time and time again, but why? Originally oneshot series, may or may not be added to. SoulXOC hinted, SoulMaka centric.


A/N: Bones owns Soul Eater, not me, as much as I wish I was rich enough to...

Oneshot: Play For You

Character: Soul Evans

Soul "Eater" Evans was sitting on his bed, staring morosely out the window. He could hear his miester, Maka Albarn, and Blair the cat witch arguing in the next room. He wasn't too concerned about the subject of the row until his name filtered through the thin apartment walls.

"If you're so worried about Soul-kun, maybe you should check on him!" Blair was saying. There was a tense, hesitant moment before Maka spoke.

"I would, but he was like this around the same time last year, too." She sighed. "It isn't that I don't care, or that I'm not worried, but I don't want him to go all 'since when do you care?' on me since I didn't do anything last time."

"You should at least try." Blair scolded gently. "I'm going to work." There was a long silence before Soul heard the front door open, then close. The sound of footsteps approached his bedroom door. He waited in silence, lying back on his bed.

"Soul?" Maka's muffled voice asked. He chose not to respond. "I'm coming, okay?" The door opened and Maka stepped in, closing it behind her. She sat on the edge of Soul's bed and looked at him, not breaking the silence for several long minutes.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" she finally asked. Soul sighed, turning his head to look at her.

"Sorry Maka, but now's not a good time." He said quietly, looking away again as she nodded understandingly.

"You will tell me eventually, right?" She asked softly. He smiled slightly in the semi-darkness.

"Yeah." He said, mind already elsewhere. Maka gently squeezed his hand. He closed his eyes.

"I'll be here if you need me. I promise." she whispered. She left, leaving Soul alone with his pain and memories...

...Memories, of the reason he didn't play the piano for others.

* * *

_The bright, clear sounds of piano music floated out of the window of the Evans family's parlor. Sunlight filtered in, lighting up the white hair of nine year old Soul Evans occupying the piano beach. The music came to a halt, a groan escaping the boy as he caught his own folly._

_"Aw, I'm never going to get this one!" he complained, glaring irately at the Chopin music in front of him. His mother, Ashley Evans, smiled._

_"I'm sure you will, Soul. You've mastered everything else we've taught you, after all." She tousled his hair as he continued to glower. James Evans, Soul's father, leaned around the doorway._

_"Hey Soul, Yue Masahina is waiting for you outside." Both parents watched their son's face light up. Soul jumped up, grabbing his jacket and shouting promises to be back in time for dinner over his shoulder._

_Soul found his best friend, Yue Masahina, standing with her back to him, hands clasped behind her. Soul wouldn't admit it to anyone except his father, but he thought she was really pretty. Her hair was the color of dark chocolate, long and well-kept. When she turned her head, looking at him over her shoulder, her periwinkle eyes twinkled and a smile lit her light-skinned face._

_"Soul!" she said happily, turning all the way around to face him. He grinned, lacing his fingers behind his head._

_"He-" he began, but didn't get to finish as Yue jumped him, giving him an unexpected hug around the middle. The two kids collapsed from the impact, dissolving into laughter. Yue rolled off him and lay back in the grass lining the Evans' driveway._

_"I love it when the weather's nice like this..." She closed her eyes, smiling. Soul looked sideways at her and smiled as well. They lay there like that for a while, happily enjoying the breeze rustling the grass._

_"Oh," Yue exclaimed, jumping up. Soul glanced at her lazily. ", there's something I wanted to show you!" She grabbed his hand, pulling him up and tugging him toward the trees behind them._

_"What?" he asked grumpily. She didn't respond, just pulled him along behind her._

_They eventually reached a clearing, the edge of which was circled with trees except for a gorge at one end. Yue let go of Soul's hand and began twirling in circles._

_"Isn't this place awesome?" Soul, who was looking around in excitement, nodded._

_"How'd you find it?" he asked. Yue stopped spinning and shrugged, teetering slightly._

_"I was cutting through here on my way to your place when I ended up here along the way." She sat down in the soft grass and Soul joined her. "I heard you working on that Chopin music today." Soul groaned._

_"Ugh, don't remind me. I was horrible! My timing was off tempo, the rhythm was completely wrong..." Soul continued to rant as Yue sat quietly and watched him. When he began to slow down, Yue leaned over and pressed her lips to his cheek. His rant stuttered to a halt as Soul flushed bright red and wriggled away uncomfortably. Awkwardness filled the silent moment that ensued._

_"Just so you know," Yue said quietly. ", I thought the music you played was really pretty." The awkwardness lessened some._

_"Thank you, Yue." Soul said finally. She smiled._

_"Anytime, Soul-kun."_

_"Oh, and Yue?"_

_"Hm?"_

_"Where'd you learn to do that?"_

_"Oh, I saw my mom do it to my brother..."_

* * *

Back in the present, Soul sat up groggily, surprised to find he'd fallen asleep. He put his on his forehead, pushing his hair back with his fingers.

"Yue..." he said, feeling the weight of the memories of his old friend. He closed his eyes, trying to fight back the onslaught.

It was a losing fight.

* * *

_Snap!_

_Soul, now twelve years old, blinked flash spots from his visions._

_"Agh! Yue!" he snapped. A laugh, light and airy, rose from the girl in front of him._

_"Sorry, Soul, but you look so dashing!" His best friend's face appeared from behind the digital camera she'd been using, a huge grin on her pretty face. It was hard for him to stay mad at her, especially when he kinda agreed with her. He tugged nervously on the collar of his new public school uniform._

_"You think so?" It was his first day of public school. Ever. He was worried he'd seem too much like a noob. Yue smiled._

_"Of course!" she tucked her camera into her bag and took his hand. "Come on, tiger!"_

_Their first class- homeroom, as Yue called it -was calm and everyone seemed very kind and polite, regardless of his family._

_At lunch, Soul sat quietly while Yue chattered with some old friends. He poked idly at his food, not really paying attention to anything._

_"Are you Soul Evans?" a voice asked. He looked up to see a third year girl, arms crossed over her voluminous bosom looking down at him._

_"Uh, yeah." he said smartly. She smiled and sat down across the table, leaning toward him. Soul concentrated on staring at her face rather than her low-cut, revealing shirt._

_"Care to," she traced fingers slowly from his knee upward under the table. ", join me?" she smiled flirtatiously as Soul squirmed. Yue was glaring at the girl._

_"Go away, Shino, you damn prostitute." she snapped. Shino turned her gaze on the younger girl, eyes narrowing._

_"Oh, sorry Masahina, am I stealing your man?" she laughed coldly as Yue's face flushed. Shino's hand moved farther up, finding Soul's waistband under his shirt. She fingered it idly. "Come on Soul, don't you wanna play?" Her eyes met his and although he suddenly wanted to say yes, he shook his head in silence, ignoring her fingers as they slipped into his pants._

_"Who'd wanna play with you, Shino?" one of Yue's friends said disgustedly. Shino smirked._

_"Soul does." she said quietly. Soul found himself blinded and tugged up and away from the table._

_When he could see again, he realized he was in one of the gym storage closets. He got up and went to the door._

_"Don't bother. It's locked." Soul turned to see Shino sitting in the shadows._

_"Why?" he asked. She stood and walked up to him. Out of instinct, he backed away, but she grabbed his wrist._

_"So I can do this," she pushed him down onto one of the mats. ", without getting caught." He tried to shove her off him, but his efforts were futile. Both their shirts disappeared quickly. Soul struggled more as she stripped him of his pants and discarded them and her skirt in a corner._

_"Please, leave me alone." he whispered. She smiled coldly._

_"Your pleading only makes me hornier. Besides," she leaned closer to him. ", you forgot the 'don't'."_

_Suddenly, the closet doors slammed open. Shino froze above him._

_"Miss Katsura?" You're under arrest for repeated reports of sexual assault on underclassmen." An officer at the door said. Shino struggled as they dragged her away. Yue ran over to Soul, who had curled up in a corner, crying into his knees, with his discarded clothes on her arm._

_"Soul? It's me, Yue." she kneeled down in front of him. "Soul, I'm sorry I let Shino do that to you." She put her hand on his and wrapped her arm around him. "I just didn't kn-know what t-to do." Her voice broke and the two of them sat there, crying for their lost trust.

* * *

_

Pandora sighed and looked over at the girl sitting quietly in the shadows next to her.

"How long are you planning on hiding this from him?" she asked Yue. The girl laughed softly.

"Are you trying to be funny, Pandora?" The elder witch frowned at her.

"I'm serious, Yue." Pandora glared at her. "You can't lie to him forever." Yue sighed and turned away from her.

"I'll lie to him as long as I need to, Pandora." She gazed up at the starlit sky, smiling slightly. "I'm hoping it won't be much longer."

* * *

_Behind the heavy curtains that muted the audience's murmurs, the air was cool and quiet. Performers lounged idly, speaking softly with one another._

_All but one, anyway._

_Soul evans paced, muttered to himself and played air piano under the warm gaze of his girlfriend, Yue Masahina._

_"Soul, sweetheart, chill." she said. She took his arm and pulled him onto the couch beside her. "You'll be amazing. You always are." She leaned toward him and captured his trembling lips with her confident ones. He put his hands on the back of her evening dress and pulled her closer._

_"Yue..." Soul whispered, voice hustky. She laced her fingers through his hair. They stared at each other longingly._

_"You're on in five." she said ruefully._

_"But - -" She put a finger to his lips._

_"I'll be waiting when you finish." She brushed his lips with hers, straightened his tie and stepped out of the green room. Soul took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage..._

_Needless to say, everyone loved Soul's performance best. When he exited the theatre, Yue ran up to him, flinging her arms around his neck and planting a congratulatory kiss on his surprised mouth._

_"You were wonderful!" she said after she'd broken the kiss. She was glowing and her smile was beautiful. "I'm so proud of you!" They hugged briefly and began the walk home. Yue walked barefoot, one hand in Soul's, the other carrying her shoes._

_"You know, I know a shortcut. C'mon." She pulled Soul with her into an alley between two apartment buildings. They were halfway when a voice stopped them._

_"Just where do you think you're going?" it cooed. Yue froze and Soul looked behind them. His eyes scanned the shadows, but he saw no one. As he was about to turn away, a woman stepped into the light. Yue didn't move._

_"Who are you?" Soul asked. The woman's eyes glinted condescendingly from under her hood._

_"Ask your girlfriend. I'm sure she knows." Her mouth split into a mocking smile. "Don't you, Yue Masahina?" Soul's eyes flicked back to Yue._

_"I suppose I do, Medusa." Yue's voice was barely audible. Medusa stepped toward the teens._

_"Don't tell me you've forgotten our deal..." Her voice trailed off dangerously. Finally, Yue turned, staring the woman defiantly in the eye._

_"I never forgot." Medusa's smile turned feral._

_"Excellent." A dark arrow appeared in front of her. "Vector Arrow!" The arrow shot forward and Yue shoved Soul to the ground as it caught her squarely in the middle. Soul sat frozen, eyes wide with horror. Blood painted the brick walls._

_"YUE!" he roared. Medusa looked down at him with distaste._

_"Shut up." she said and kicked him swiftly in the head.

* * *

_

Soul wiped the tears off his face, shaking as sobs racked his body. Fresh ones rolled down his face.

"Yue..." he sobbed. The bedroom door opened and the harsh illumination from the hall light stung his eyes. When his vision cleared, Soul saw Maka silhouetted against the glare.

"Soul?" She took in the sobbing weapon for a split second before wrapping him in her arms.

"M-Maka..." Soul choked out, weakly pushing her away. "I have something I need to show you..." He bent down the side of the bed, reaching under it to pull out a beat up shoebox. He opened it wordlessly, gently pulling out an envelope and upending its contents onto the bed. Maka picked up one of the photos that had slid out.

"Soul... Who is this?" He looked at the photo.

"That's Yue." he said hoarsely. She looked at him.

"Where is she now?" Soul took a deep breath.

"She's gone."

**Well I hope you enjoyed that and thanks for reading. It took me a while so please show your appreciation with a review!**

**Next; The Reason I Don't: Stop Caring [Maka]**


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